NYSportsJournalism.com - Nike Preps LeBron's Future, Jordan Fetes MJ's Past
Even as Nike looks to the future with one of its top endorsers, LeBron James, it’s Jordan Brand division is honoring the past with arguably the greatest spokesman in its history, Michael Jordan.
With James moving from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Los Angeles Lakers via a four-year, $154 million deal, Nike will ramp up kicks and accessories that reflect LeBron’s new purple-and-gold colors with at least several years of King James signature shoes.
Concurrently, the new International Flight Collection highlights three games in which Jordan excelled during the off-season.
According to Nike, "For Michael Jordan, there was no off-season. MJ went so far as to include a legendary ‘Love of the Game/ clause in his contract to ensure he could play year-round. The summer months were an opportunity to travel the globe and show off his legendary skills to thousands of passionate basketball fans in the U.S. and abroad, who were eager just to get a glimpse of the G.O.A.T."
On Aug. 8, 1988, Jordan played a charity game in front of more than 17,500 people in Los Angeles, scoring 54 points. The game raised $650,000 for the United Negro College Fund — the nation’s largest private scholarship provider to students of color — an organization that Jordan Brand said it “has had a relationship with for over 30 years.”
The Air Jordan 3 “International Flight” has blue and red accents inspired by the jerseys players wore during the charity game. Jordan’s signature is on the tongue of the right shoe (Jordan is right-handed) and patterns on the collar were inspired by the stars on the jerseys.
Jordan played a game Aug. 30, 1990 in Barcelona, where two years later he would help to lead the Dream Team to an Olympic Gold medal in the 1992 Summer Olympics.
As part of a European tour that year, Jordan arrived just before the start of the Spanish League season, where he judged a slam dunk contest and played in a promotional game, finishing the evening with a team-high 37 points, according to Jordan Brand.
The Air Jordan 5 “International Flight” has an orange and blue mosaic pattern inspired by street art in Barcelona, as well as the colors of the jerseys Jordan wore during the game.
It also changes the spelling of Air to “Aire” on the tongue, referring to the Spanish translation of Air Jordan
The their part of the collection references a game on Sept. 12, 1996 t(he summer after the Chicago Bull’s 72-10 championship season).
Jordan and other NBA stars , in Tokyo for a basketball clinic, appeared before 32,000 fans and ”showed off by playing 1-on-1, 4-on-4 and even having a little friendly competition with some of Japan’s famous sumo wrestlers.”
According to Michael Finley, who was on that tour and became one of the first Jordan Brand athletes during his 17-year NBA career, Jordan never lost his competitive nature.
“We did a little scrimmage against some local guys and a couple of the sumo wrestlers who probably had never touched a basketball in their lives,” said Finley, via Nike. “He had fun with them and joked around, but at the end of the day he told us, ‘Yo, we’re not losing this game.’ He said, ‘I don’t lose. Whether it’s for charity, scrimmage, or in the season, I don’t lose.’”
The Air Jordan 12 “International Flight” has a koi fish scale print on the mud guard and an embossed, kimono-inspired print on the upper. The characters on the heel of the shoe translate to “Air Jordan.”
• The Air Jordan 3 “International Flight” and jersey are now available.
• The Air Jordan 5 “International Flight” and jersey will be available Aug. 28.
• The Air Jordan 12 “International Flight” and jersey will be available Sept. 8.
